Ayn Rand

[yoshomon]

"Ayn Rand was a third-rate novelist pretending to be a first-rate philosopher. She wrote Harlequin Romances for intellectually pretentious adolescent boys. I know. I was one of those boys.

By the time I was 17, I had read all of Rand's major works: The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, We the Living, and Anthem. I was put on to them by Eleanor Amidon, a bright, rebellious high school classmate on whom I had a powerful crush. (To this day, Eleanor is the only female I know who read and liked the works of Ayn Rand. I'm sure there are others; I just haven't met them.) I enjoyed Rand's books. They were simple and a little sexy, with just enough harebrained economics and philosophy thrown in to make me think I wasn't wasting my time. The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged were also very long (the latter over 1,000 pages), which made them seem both literally and intellectually weighty.

But even at the age of 17, I knew that Rand was a philosophical charlatan. More on that in a minute.

Rand was born in 1905 and died in 1982. So why am I bothering to write about a mediocre writer who died 22 years ago? Because in the last two weeks, I have received three emails from readers of my column who cite Ayn Rand as either their "very favorite" writer or as a huge influence on their political philosophy. Each of these readers is male and a generation younger than me. (I'm 58.) Each of them is intelligent, thoughtful, and literate. Each of them claims to be some flavor of "libertarian." Beyond that, Rand still wields influence in high places. Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve and arguably the one man in America who can influence the nation's economy with a single speech, was once a member of Rand's inner circle. The economist Milton Friedman was a disciple of Rand's. The libertarian Cato Institute was founded largely on Ayn Rand's principles. The entire neoconservative movement owes some debt to Rand. George W. Bush will never read Ayn Rand--he's not a reader or a thinker, even at that low level--but he is nevertheless a product of her thinking, without his even knowing it."

it goes on, give it a read:
http://www.memphisflyer.com/content.asp?ID=2973&onthefly=1

[JSpaceman]

Huh- I certainly never particularly cared for her writing... interesting.

[Megnificent]

Interesting article. I read Atlas Shrugged and Fountainhead in high school/college and liked them, but haven't read anything else by Rand since then. The valid points in this article make me wonder if I'd still like her writing.

A depressing article in the context that it was written as pro-Kerry:(

[ahart2001]

Never even heard of her until now.

[yoshomon]

Yeah, the pro-Kerry bit at the end is stupid and takes away from the article.

[The Engineer]

The weakness of the article comes chiefly from the fact that he does not carry his argument out to its logical conclusion. He bashes Ayn for several paragraphs, then glorifies her consistency as a libertarian. The only conclusion that can fit in this Jekyll and Hyde sort of attack is to tell people that neither party will serve their interests. Instead he takes the weak way out and makes an extremely under-powered argument in favor of John Kerry.

There is plenty of ill that can be said about Ayn but to what end? All things considered, this is a very disappointing article.

[the happy prole]

As pure novels, Ayn Rand books are horrible. All the characters are so one-dimensionally either good or bad. There's no doubt who's going to win in the end. And she always has to work in a way where the protagonist somehow gets to address the court or the nation, giving a 10 page lecture on objectivism. As if she hadn't been hitting everyone over the head with it since page 1.

As a philosopher, Rand is okay. I don't think her ideas are that original, but she has a no-nonsense way of describing things. Of course it's easy to be very concise when your philosophy is so simple.

I find it quite hilarious that Rand is so popular. Clearly, most people who reads Rand envision themselves as Roarke or Reardon, and 99.9% of them are wrong.

[ianalex10]

Originally posted by yoshomon
"Harlequin Romances


http://www.viperalley.com/images/graemlins/smilielol.gif http://www.viperalley.com/images/graemlins/smilielol.gif http://www.viperalley.com/images/graemlins/smilielol.gif

[markalot]

I don't think any purist arguments are correct. I like capitalism, but pure capitalism is not good, you need some socialist aspects to make it work. This guy doesn't seem to have thought any of that out and instead is just bashing for a candidate, in this case trying to get people to vote for Kerry.

She is not, has not, will not be the only person to use the straw man, I mean come on.

edit: I just read the article a second time and now I'm completely lost. What the hell was this guys point? Kerry was for civil liberties, Ayn Rand was for civil liberties, Ayn Rand wrote bad novels, if you're a libertarian vote for Kerry.

[the happy prole]

True, but there's a dangerous element to Rand's philosophy. Maybe dangerous isn't the right word.

Hank Reardon doesn't buy cd's at Walmart. Hank Reardon goes to Walmart, decides its low-quality schlocky unoriginal stuff. Hank Reardon goes home, works 200 hours and invents a new steel. He uses the new steel to make a new instrument. He uses the new instrument to invent a new genre of music. Then he writes all his songs, plays all the instruments and produces every track himself. And then he builds a new type of media storage device and player because cd's suck. When he's done, he shows it to Francisco d' Anconia and she gives it to him the way they do to heroes. Or more accurately, he takes from her what he deserves.

No one in Ayn Rand novels has kids. There's not much room for friendship, love or admiring sunsets. It's a very hardcore. And unless you're a super-genius with balls and work ethic to match, you are going to get run over. Hank Reardon doesn't have to listen to anyone because he's always right and he knows it. He's that smart.

Problem is, many people who read Rand think they're Reardon. They just want the government to step aside and when things don't go their way it's because someone is afraid of their genius. You can't just take the parts of Rand you like, it's not that kind of philosophy.

[jd1]

What about the Ayn Rand movie? Anybody seen it? I think it was Atlas Shrugged, made in the 1960's, in B&W. If I watch that, can I get the gist of what she's on about without having to read her books? 1000 pages is a little much I think.

--JD

[jd1]

P.S. Forget about philosophy and ideas for a minute. What's the pronunciation of "Ayn" that's least affected or pretentious? I've heard it as "Ann", "Aine", "Eye-in" and "Ine" (like mine, without the m). Any clue as to what is best?

--JD

[akip]

never even picked one up.

[the happy prole]

It's one syllable and a long i. ("Ine" in your example).

[JSpaceman]

Originally posted by jd1
"Ine" (like mine, without the m). Yep, that's what I've always heard...

[brainslosh]

Classic rock owes a giant debt to Ayn Rand. Without her, what would Rush's music be about? :)

[postfeminist]

i'm anti-rand.

not surprising.

[Jeff59]

Well that line about "Harelquen Romances for Intellectually Pretentious Adolescents" does somwhat describe the 2112 concept album (and alot of other "Prog Rock" like ELP) , doesn't it?

OK, I did read The Fountainhead while in college (while studying architecture, beleive it or not..tho it had no affect on my understanding of the field).

I did like it for its fictional treatment of real people..Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, William Randolph Hearst, possibly Louis Mumford (Ellsworth Touhy?).

To be honest, at the time I did not get much of politics or economics out of that book. I read it more as a call to being true to ones artistic vision and the pifalls of compromise...which is a real tension in the field of archticture, which is both an art and buisness and a form of craft and enginnering.

I also liked the "Fuck me?, No, Fuck YOU" chutzpah of some of the chacaters...like Gail Wynand putting a "We Dont Read Wynand" sticker on his own car.

The movie version was a real hoot. If you appreciate campy movies this is sort of a camp classic..particularly the scene involving Dominque Francon and Howard Roark when Roark was working at that quarry.

When I was in California they screened "The Fountainhead" as a benefit or entertiainiment for the local AIA chapter..this was during the heyday of "postmodernism", so when they started to slap the neoclassical facades on Howard Roarks housing project (which looked like a maybe cleaner version of Pruitt-Igoe or Cabrini-Green), the audience just erupted in laughter, as the movie, in that one scene, was sort of forecasting what was happening to architecture at the time.

[markalot]

I'm an also rand.

[ICONOCLAST420]

Originally posted by jd1
What about the Ayn Rand movie? Anybody seen it? I think it was Atlas Shrugged, made in the 1960's, in B&W. If I watch that, can I get the gist of what she's on about without having to read her books? 1000 pages is a little much I think.

--JD The movie you are referring to is The Fountainhead

There was an Atlas Shrugged film project in the works a few years back but it fell through due to lack of funding, I was so looking forward to seeing it.

[agate0ph0be]

i've only ever read anthem (1ce for fun and 1ce for school) and i really liked it. but it was more the concept than the writing. idk if i'd be able to read her other books.

[rocketman70]

I NEVER got into to her writing. I tried reading The Foutainhead. UGH!

[Digit1001]

Never read anything by her, but she was suggested to me by a female friend when I was in HS. Unlike the author of the original piece though, I wasn't hot for the girl, so I ignored her suggestion. I did pick up a copy of the Fountainhead at a garage sale though when I was in college just in case I ever got inspired to read it. Instead I've moved it in various boxes for the past 10 years. Maybe I'll dig in now and see what myself as a very post-adolescent male thinks of it.

Along those lines... have you ever read a book at various stages in your life and gotten different reads from it? Catcher in the Rye is one for me like that. I read it in HS, and was Holden, then read it in college and felt like I was HC's older brother... not as mixed up, but could relate. Then I read it again when I was about 29-30 and felt like, "poor Holden. That kid needs some help."

I thought it was interesting that the same book in ellicit such different feelings from me at different points in my life.

[postfeminist]

ayn rand still sucks

[ajax]

Along those lines... have you ever read a book at various stages in your life and gotten different reads from it? Catcher in the Rye is one for me like that. I read it in HS, and was Holden, then read it in college and felt like I was HC's older brother... not as mixed up, but could relate. Then I read it again when I was about 29-30 and felt like, "poor Holden. That kid needs some help."

I've read Catcher in the Rye several times in my lifetime. I read it a month ago and I am now convinced that I am Holden Caulfield. I think that I have always felt that way. I just hope no one puts me in the bin.

[Slar]

I was a big Ayn Rand fan for awhile. Picked up Virtue of Selfishness at Waldenbooks based on the title. I loved the first couple of chapters, but never could get myself to read the whole thing. I then read her novels and other non-fiction as well. I also picked up on Nathaniel Branden who has written some excellent books on self-esteem.

Once you compare her stated philosophy with how she actually lived her life, it helps put things in perscpective. There was a more recent movie about her life. Can't remember what it was, but it's worth the watch if you're into that.

I still like her things and think I benefitted greatly from her writings, but I'm no fanatic.

[seafoamgreen]

There was a fiction film about ayn rand with eric stoltz and helen mirren and there is a documentary called: Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life. The documentary is a right wing lovefest however, but its worth watching anyway.

There is also a book called The Ayn Rand Cult, but I haven't checked it out yet.

[Johnnylama]

I hadn’t read any Ayn Rand, so I picked up a copy of Anthem this summer and read it on the plane to see my brother in D.C. I really knew very little about her writing except that a lot of people liked to talk about it, so I wanted to see what it was all about. Everything seemed very one-dimensional and extremist, like she was trying to create a world where her philosophy made sense. Sure, she focused on retaining the integrity of the individual, but the world she drew seemed so out of line with reality that I could barely take her premise seriously. I talked to my brother about this, and he agreed that big “Rand fans” have kind of an unrealistic view of the individual’s role in the world. Interesting article: I agreed with most of its conclusions. Adolescent boys especially have this “I can kick the world’s ass so don’t mess with me” attitude that comes through in many of Rand’s characters. I find it naive and immature. I’ve found that once these individuals get their asses kicked by someone else, they start to understand the value of respecting compromise in addition to respect of the individual, and there’s a whole lot less ass kicking necessary.

[Phreon]

Originally posted by postfeminist
ayn rand still sucks

Have I ever mentioned how insightfull you are?

Ayn Rand reads like the Steven Covey book, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People". This is not a compliment.

Phreon